Nintendo Microphone

In late August, IGN Cube reported some of the first details available on Nintendo's new mystery peripheral for use in Mario Party 6. The report came amidst the announcement of Nintendo's official holiday lineup, creating a rather healthy day of news for the secretive company.

Recently, the Japanese publication Famitsu displayed yet another piece of juicy information: artwork depicting Nintendo's proprietary microphone controller. What's more, the publication also released details on how the new microphone would alter gameplay to suit voice commands.

According to Famistsu, one mini-game sees four players battling in a 3 vs. 1 tournament. The player holding the microphone shouts "launch!" to fire missiles against the other players. Another example sees four players in a free-for-all as they try and escape the grasp of a giant squid. One mini-game sees players launch Bullet Bill with the microphone as other players dodge the attack.

The publication also announced the inclusion of rare mini-games that require very specific techniques to unlock. There will also be an array of quizzes requiring players to shout their answers. For example, one quiz has you calling out the name of various characters in a type of memory challenge. Famitsu also reports Mario Party 6 will require 5 memory blocks.

Mario Party 6 boasts around 80 all-new mini-games, six new game boards and, of course, the Nintendo GameCube Mic. Plus, there's a new day and night system giving the different boards and mini-games two different modes. Boards will transform, mini-games will play differently and hidden characters will emerge according to the time of day. We also know that the usual roster of Nintendo favorites will be back, including: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Daisy, Bowser, Boo and Koopa Kid. Not to mention Waluigi.

We'll be back with more just as soon as it becomes available.

©2004, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved